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[sv-rituals] NavarAthri celebrations at Kaanchipuram : PerumAL-ThAyAr SErthi sEvai for 10 day

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Mani Varadarajan • Tue Nov 05 2002 - 10:57:51 PST 


From: Sadagopan  
Date: Mon Oct 14, 2002 7:01pm 
Subject: NavarAthri celebrations at Kaanchipuram : PerumAL-ThAyAr 
SErthi sEvai for 10 days: Part III (Conclusion)  


October 14 ,2002

SrI:

SrI MahA Devi SamEtha Sri VaradarAja ParabrahmaNE nama:

Dear BhakthAs:

Today is the MahA Navami day of the NavarAthri Uthsavam
at Kanchipuram. 

This is the day that the Lord blessed Sarasvathi at 
ThiruvehhA , where She stands at the Thiruvdai of
the Lord as a repentant daughter-in-law ; There the Lord 
stopped the angry Sarasvathi rushing as the river Vegavathi 
by stopping Her from doing any  damage to the Yaj~nam 
in progress on top of Hasthigiri by Her husband , 
Chathurnukha  Brahma .The Lord became a SEthu(dam) and blocked
Sarasvathi's flow . Chathurmukha Brahma completed successfully
the AsvamEdha Yaagam and the Lord  appeared as VaradarAjan 
from the agni kuntam with PuNyakOti VimAnam and blesses us all
every day . 

Our Lord  also empowered Sarasvathi to be worshipped 
as "The Goddess Of Learning " . The seventh slOkam of
SrI HayagrIva  sthOthram  refers to the blessing of 
the Lord for Sarasvathi: " Devi SarOja-aasana  dharma pathnI,
---sphuranthi SarvE TAVA SAKTHI-LESAI: " That wife of  Brahma 
(Sarasvathi) , whose seat is a Lotus flower has gained 
a high status as "The Goddess of Learning " due to 
the miniscule part of Your power of anugraham 
as HyagrIva Varadhan .  

Another reference to the Lord blessing  Sarasvathi 
to become appropriate  for worship as "The Goddess
of Learning " is found in the second slOkam of 
SrI Gopala Vimsathi :

" VaachAm nijAngarasikAm prasamIkshamANa:
  vakthrAravindha vinivEsitha Paanchajanya:
  varNa thrikONa ruchirE vara puNDarIkE
  bhaddhAsanE jayathi vallava chakravathI "

This slOkam based on Manthra  Saasthram refers 
to the Lord as HayagrIva-GopAlan sitting in the middle of
an eight petalled lotus flower containing a triangular
shaped yanthram and blessing  Sarasvathi Devi seated on His lap.
He places His divine sankham in His mouth at that time
in His lotus-soft lips to remind Her of the Jn~Anam granting 
power of Paanchajanyam. Sarasvathi  is blessed to play
Her role as " the Goddess of Learning " and She is celebrated
on this MahA navami day. The Lord is undoubtedly the source 
behind Her power and that is why in VaishNavA homes , 
this day is considered special for SrI HayagrIva AarAdhanam.

On the morning of the ninth day , during the early hours ,
Visva Roopa sEvai takes place for both Lord VaradharAjan 
and MahA Devi at the Mirror Room , where they had rested 
during the night before.

The entrance to the Temple , the hundred pillar maNtapam
as well as the special MaNtapam in front of SrI PerumdEvi
ThAyaar Sannidhi are specially decorated with flags, festoons
and ThOraNams made up of leaves from the Mango tree.

Around 10 A.M ,The Lord starts the puraPPAdu from the abhishEka
mantapam near the mirror hall (KaNNAdi arai) with His divine
consort , who is adorning Souri , Jadai Saram , Raakadi , Naaga
aabharaNam etc .She shines as SarvAbharaNa BhUshithai. 
Lord VaradarAjan presents Himself to the assembly of devotees 
without flowers or many flower garlands as is wont. 
Our Lord's PeethAmbharam and His weapons are clearly 
visible and their beauty is enjoyed by the assembly of 
bhakthAs thristing for such a sEvai of His ThirumEni 
with the dhivyAyudhams .The dhivya dampathis adorn only 
one slender flower garland strung from of the same flower.
The athi-adhbhutha soundaryam (lAvaNyam ) of the Dhivya Damapthis 
sparkles during this EkAntha sEvai. With majestic gait , 
the divine couple go clockwise around their Dhvaja Sthambham 
to please VinathA Suthan and arrive at the KiLI ManTapa Vaahana 
kidangu mEDu.Next they  arrive at the location that is
important to our SampradhAyam: SrI ALavanthAr MuRRam.
Here Periya  Mudali (SrI ALavanthAr) cast his first 
glances on RaamAnujA studying with YaadhavaprakAsa and
prayed to Lord VaradarAjan to bless RaamAnujA to become
the glorious pravarthakar of SrI VaishNava sampradhAyam.
The PuRappAdu continues via the prAkAram adjascent to
the MadaipaLLI and halts at the ThAyAr Sannidhi. Both Lord
Vardhan and SrI PerumdEvi ThAyAr face the garbhagraham now
and kaRpoora Haaratthi takes place and the curtain is
drawn thereafter to prepare for a rare event associated
with MahA Navami celebrations .

There is a beautiful MaNtapam in front of ThAyAr Sannidhi 
with powerful pillars and superstructure . The divine couple
are now seated in the center of this Mantapam to enjoy 
the rare, once a year alankAra Thirumanjanam in yEkAsanam.
The sanctifying sound of Upanishads, Thirumanjana Kattiyam ,
Purusha Sooktham , SrI Sooktham , PeriyAzhwAr's neerAtta
Paasurams fill the air and mesmerize the assembled bhakthAs.

After Thirumanjanam , the dhivya dampathis are adorned 
with special aabharaNams , Vasthrams and garlands. They
present their EkAsana sEvai for their children , 
who have come from far and near. Throngs of bhakthAs
enjoy this sErthi sEvai without blinking their eyes.

Lord Varadhan has the visEsha alankAram of white
sikkuthAdu as ThiruvabhishEkam .The multicolored flower
garlands spread their fragrance all around. They stay 
at this Mantapam for a while and as evening approaches
start for their Kolu at the 100 pillar Mantapam as
in previous days.

This 100 pillar Mantapam was built by Adhi VaNN saThakOpa 
Jeeyar at the niyamanam of Lord VaradarAjan on the banks of 
the PushkaraNi, Anantha Saras.There was no specail maNtapams 
until this time for celebrating the Visesha Uthsavams .
There are beautiful sculptures in this Mantapam. The wealthy 
sishyan who helped to complete the construction of 
this 100 pillar mantapam sculpted the image of 
LakshmI Nrusimhan in one of the pillars and in the pillar
opposite carved the image of Adhi VaNN SaThakOpa Jeeyar.
In that mantapam , the founder of SrI Matam , Adhi VaNN
SathakOpa Jeeyar conducted a visEsha Uthsavam and
set the scene for future frequent use of that Mantapam.

>From ThAyAr Sannadhi VaradarAja PerumAL enjoys Padi yERRam
while His dharma Pathni stands behind to let Her Lord 
go ahead of Her . The Paatham thAngis of ThAyar gently sway
and  wait so that She can take in the sarvAngha Soundharyam of 
Her Lord (AlankAra Priyan) from all angles.Next She joins Him 
and both proceed towars the 100 pillar maNtapam via 
the abhishEka MaNtapam from which they started the day's 
festival earlier.

A beautiful Oonjal is set up in the Mantapa muhappu (front).
The divine couple have their seat there and the AarAdhanam 
commences with Manthra Pushpam and the subsequent  steps.
NaivEdhyam is presented and ghOshti theertha-prasAdha
viniyOgam takes place at the end of the AarAdhanam. Now,
the divine couple climb the steps of the 100 pillar
MaNtapam and arrive at the inner elevated maNtapam (peetam).
There instead of the cloth vidhAnam of previous days ,
one finds a big white umbrella (VeNN koRRa Kudai) 
representing the yEka chakrAdhipathyam of the divine couple.
This eka sEshithva yOgam is celebrated by Swamy Desikan
in His SrI Sthuthi slOkam passage:

UddhEsyathvam Janani bhajathO ujjithOpAdhigandham
PRATHYAK ROOPE HAVISHI YUVAYO: YEKASESHITHVA YOGAM

--First half of SlOkam 6

Here Swami Desikan celebrates the dhivya miTunam 
(divine couple ) as UpEyam in the Yaj~nam of 
samarpaNam of the Jeevan as havis (during Prapatthi).
Swamy Desikan points out that both the Lord and His
divine consort as Yeka ChakrAdhipathis recieve 
the Havis of Aathma samarpaNam together.Both of
Them are sEshis and UddEsyars . There are not two
separate Seshis but in their state of inseperable 
union , they  serve as yEka sEshi and practise
yEka sEshithva yOgam. That is the significance 
of that one big white umbrella inside the 100 pillar
maNtapam on the MahA navami day. Elsewhere in 
SrI Sthuthi, Swamy  Desikan identifies the union
of mind of the dhivya dampathis as : 

AapannArthi prasamana vidhou Bhaddha dhIkshasya VishNO: 
aachakhyus-ThvAm  priyasahacharIm EikamadhyOpapannAm

Lord Varadhan as PraNatha-arthi-Haran (destroyer of 
the sufferings of His bhakthAs) has the dhIkshai 
to remove the samsAric sufferings of His devotees.
With unified mind as His SahadharmachArINi . SrI PerumdEvi
Thaayar joins Him with unified mind to fulfill  His
Yaj~na dhIkshai. Seated under the single white umbrella
in the 100 pillar maNtapam , they remind us of their 
role to bless the world through yEka ChakrAdhipathyam:

"AadhirAjyam adhikam bhuvanAnAm pisunayan".

Lord Varadhan is Deva Raajan ( ImayOr talaivan) 
and She is His Empress (Chakravartini).

After blessing their children during their Kolu (DharbAr),
the divine couple travel back leisurely to the Mirror
Hall to rest together. Next morning , the Lord and
His divine consort return to their individual sannidhis.
BhakthAs look forward to the next year's NavarAthri
Uthsavam in general and the MahA Navami celebrations
in particular. 

NavarAthri Ninth day , October 14
SrI HayagrIva Pooja /Sarsavathi anugraha day as YathOktha Kaari

SrI MahA Devi samEtha Sri HasthigirIsAya namO nama:

PrapadhyE niravadhyAnAm nishadhyAm guNa-sampadhAm
SaraNam bhava-bhIthAnAm SaThakOpa MunIsvaram

KesavArya KrupA-pAthram dhIsamAdhi-guNArNavam
SrI SaThAri yathIsAnadEsikEndhram aham bhajE

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan





-- SrImatE rAmAnujAya namaH --

 

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